Environmentally Friendly Shoe Material and Method of Manufacturing the Same

ABSTRACT

An environmentally friendly shoe material and method of manufacturing the same is disclosed, wherein the method includes: mixing scraps and a foaming material to provide a shoe material mixture, the scraps including bottle scraps formed by crushing plastic bottles; putting the shoe material mixture into a mold and compression molding the shoe material mixture into the environmentally friendly shoe material; and separating the environmentally friendly shoe material from the mold. In this way, the environmentally friendly shoe material may not only maintain its due function, but also take environmental protection into account.

BACKGROUND Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to shoes, and more particularly to an environmentally friendly shoe material and a method for manufacturing the same.

Related Prior Art

With the advancement of technology and the rise of environmental awareness, more and more manufacturers on the market have begun to use recycled resources or recycled waste as materials for making products. However, most of the existing shoes on the market, such as sports shoes, sandals, slippers, casual shoes, etc., have soles made of a single material, for example, made of rubber with good wear resistance and elasticity. Therefore, how to apply recycled waste to shoe soles as one of the materials for manufacturing shoe soles is a topic to be solved at present.

SUMMARY

One objective of the present invention is to provide an environmentally friendly shoe material that can maintain its due function and take environmental protection into account, and a method for manufacturing the same.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, a method for manufacturing an environmentally friendly shoe material comprises: mixing scraps and a foaming material to provide a shoe material mixture, the scraps including bottle scraps formed by crushing plastic bottles; putting the shoe material mixture into a mold and compression molding the shoe material mixture into the environmentally friendly shoe material; and separating the environmentally friendly shoe material from the mold.

In another embodiment, the aforementioned method further includes: heating the mold.

In yet another embodiment, the scraps further include paper scraps, wood scraps, plant scraps, coffee grounds, discarded foamed plastic fragments or combinations thereof.

In yet another embodiment, the step of mixing scraps and the foaming material to provide the shoe material mixture includes: mixing the scraps, catalyst, and thermosetting polyurethane elastomer to provide a first mixture; and mixing water with the first mixture to provide the shoe material mixture, wherein the catalyst, the water and the thermosetting polyurethane elastomer are mixed to produce the foaming material.

In yet another embodiment, in the foaming material, a content of the catalyst is 15-20% by weight, a content of the water is 10-20% by weight, and a content of the thermosetting polyurethane elastomer is 60-70% by weight. Or, a ratio of the catalyst, the water and the thermosetting polyurethane elastomer is 20:20:60 or 15:10:75.

In yet another embodiment, the foaming material is liquid rubber.

In yet another embodiment, the method for manufacturing the environmentally friendly shoe material further comprises: putting a thermoplastic polyurethane film into the mold; and covering the shoe material mixture with the thermoplastic polyurethane film to perform compression molding and produce the environmentally friendly shoe material.

The present invention further provides an environmentally friendly shoe material according to an embodiment, wherein the environmentally friendly shoe material is suitable for being made into a component of a shoe and includes scraps and an elastic material, and the scraps include bottle scraps made by crushing plastic bottles.

In another embodiment, the environmentally friendly shoe material further includes paper scraps.

In yet another embodiment, the elastic material includes rubber or thermosetting polyurethane elastomer.

In yet another embodiment of the present invention, a content of the scraps is 30-60% by weight.

In yet another embodiment of the present invention, the size of the plastic bottle scraps is 2-8 mm.

In yet another embodiment of the present invention, the environmentally friendly shoe material further comprises a thermoplastic polyurethane elastic layer as a surface of the environmentally friendly shoe material.

In this way, the environmentally friendly shoe material provided by the present invention can not only maintain its due function, but also take environmental protection into account.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

After studying the detailed description in conjunction with the following drawings, other aspects and advantages of the present invention will be discovered:

FIG. 1 is a flow chart of a method for manufacturing an environmentally friendly shoe material according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of a method for manufacturing an environmentally friendly shoe material according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a method for manufacturing an environmentally friendly shoe material according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a method for manufacturing an environmentally friendly shoe material according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5A is a plan view of a shoe material applied to the sole according to an embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 5B is a cross-sectional view of FIG. 5A taken along the line 5B-5B.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following detailed description, many specific details are explained in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. However, those of ordinary skill in the art will understand that the present invention can be practiced without these specific details. In other cases, well-known methods, procedures and/or elements are not described in detail so as not to obscure the present invention.

The present invention will be more clearly understood from the following description of the embodiments of the present invention, which is made by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings, which are not drawn to scale.

The method for manufacturing an environmentally friendly shoe material provided by the present invention can be applied to the manufacture of shoe components. For example, the method for manufacturing an environmentally friendly shoe material provided by the present invention can be applied to the manufacture of shoe soles. In order to clearly illustrate the spirit of the present invention, the application of the manufacturing method to the sole of the shoe will be explained as an example in the following description.

Referring to FIG. 1, according to an embodiment of the present invention, a method for manufacturing an environmentally friendly shoe material is provided. In this manufacturing method, first, in a step S10, scraps and a foaming material are mixed to provide a shoe material mixture. In this embodiment or other embodiments, the scraps here may be, for example, scraps made from recycled materials, such as plastic scraps, paper scraps, wood chips, plant scraps, coffee grounds, scraps from other recycled materials, or any combination thereof. The plastic scraps may be made by crushing, for example, PET bottles, bottle caps, or both, or by crushing waste foaming plastic fragments, such as ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer (EVA). The size of the plastic scraps can be, for example, a size visible to the human eye, such as 2-8 mm, but the invention is not limited to this. The foaming material can be liquid rubber, for example. The content of scraps can be, for example, 30-60 weight percent, and the content of foaming material can be, for example, 70-40 weight percent. The added foaming material is mixed with the scraps to enable the scraps to be adhered and uniformly or unevenly dispersed in the foaming material.

Next, in a step S12, the above-mentioned shoe material mixture is put into a mold and molded into the shoe material by compression molding. Furthermore, compression molding may be performed using the mold at room temperature (that is, without heating). Finally, in a step S14, the shoe material is separated from the mold.

The sole produced by the above-mentioned manufacturing method may include an elastic material 10 and scraps 20 as shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B. The elastic material 10 is a rubber formed by solidifying the liquid rubber added as a foaming material in the above step S10. The scraps are the scraps added in the step S10. As can be seen from the figures, in the step S10, dispersing the scraps in the foaming material allows the elastic material 10 formed by solidifying the foaming material to cover the scraps 20, and makes the scraps 20 evenly or unevenly dispersed in the sole. The scraps 20 dispersed in the sole are visible to the human eye.

In another embodiment, the aforementioned manufacturing method can further include heating the mold, as in a step S11 shown in FIG. 2, for example, heating the mold to 50-60 degrees. Therefore, the forming efficiency of the shoe material may be accelerated and the stability of the finished product may be strengthened. Although in FIG. 2, the step S11 is performed after the step S10, the present invention is not limited to this. In other embodiments, the step S11 may be performed before the step S10, or simultaneously with the step S12.

The above-mentioned embodiment is explained by using liquid rubber as an example of the foaming material. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the above-mentioned foaming material can be replaced by other materials. For example, please refer to FIG. 3, first, in the step S20, the scraps and the foaming material are mixed to provide the shoe material mixture. In detail, the step S20 includes the following steps.

In a step S201, the scraps, catalyst, and thermosetting polyurethane elastomer (TSU) are mixed to provide a first mixture. The scraps may be scraps made of recycled materials, such as plastic scraps, paper scraps, scraps of other recycled materials, or any combination thereof. The plastic scraps can be made by crushing, for example, PET bottles, bottle caps, or a combination thereof. The size of the plastic scraps can be, for example, a size visible to the human eye, such as 2-8 mm, but the present invention is not limited to this. The catalyst can be, for example, triethylenediamine.

Then, in a step S202, water is mixed with the first mixture to provide the shoe material mixture. The catalyst, the water and the thermosetting polyurethane elastomer are mixed to produce the aforementioned foaming material. In the foaming material, the content of the catalyst can be, for example, 15-20% by weight, the content of water can be, for example, 10-20% by weight, and the content of the thermosetting polyurethane elastomer can be, for example, 60-70% by weight. Specifically, the ratio (content) of the catalyst, the water and the thermosetting polyurethane elastomer may be, for example, 20:20:60 or 15:10:75 (weight percentage). The content of the scraps can be, for example, 30-60 weight percent, and the content of the foaming material can be, for example, 70-40 weight percent. The added foaming material is mixed with the scraps to enable the scraps to be adhered and uniformly or unevenly dispersed in the foaming material.

After the shoe material mixture is formed, in a step S22, the above-mentioned shoe material mixture is putted into the mold and molded by compressing molding to produce the shoe material. More specifically, the compression molding can be performed using the mold at room temperature (that is, without heating). Finally, in a step S24, the shoe material is separated from the mold.

In another embodiment, the aforementioned manufacturing method can further include heating the mold, as in a step S21 shown in FIG. 4, for example, heating the mold to a temperature greater than about 80 degrees, and up to a temperature of 150 degrees for maximum. For example, when the mold is heated to 100 degrees, it takes 1.5 hours for compression molding, and when the mold is heated to 150 degrees, it takes 1 hour for compression molding. Therefore, the forming efficiency of the shoe material may be accelerated and the stability of the final product may be strengthened. Although in FIG. 4, the step S21 is performed after the step S20, the present invention is not limited to this. In other embodiments, the step S21 may be performed before the step S20 or simultaneously with the step S22.

In other embodiments of the present invention, the above step S12 (or S22) may include the following steps. First, a thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) film is placed in the mold. Then, the above shoe material mixture is put onto the thermoplastic polyurethane film in the mold, and the thermoplastic polyurethane film covers the entire shoe material mixture. Finally, compression molding is performed to produce the shoe material. Therefore, the surface of the finished shoe material will have a thermoplastic polyurethane layer, such as a thermoplastic polyurethane layer 30 shown in FIG. 5B. In this way, not only the molded shoe material can be demolded more easily, but also the wear resistance and flexural properties of the finished shoe material can be enhanced.

Although the present invention is disclosed above with the foregoing embodiments, these embodiments are not intended to limit the present invention. All changes and modifications made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention fall within the scope of protection of the present invention. For the scope of protection defined by the present invention, please refer to the attached claims. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for manufacturing an environmentally friendly shoe material comprising: mixing scraps and a foaming material to provide a shoe material mixture, the scraps including bottle scraps formed by crushing plastic bottles; putting the shoe material mixture into a mold and compression molding the shoe material mixture into the environmentally friendly shoe material; and separating the environmentally friendly shoe material from the mold.
 2. The method for manufacturing the environmentally friendly shoe material as claimed in claim 1, wherein the scraps further include paper scraps, wood scraps, plant scraps, coffee grounds, discarded foamed plastic fragments or combinations thereof.
 3. The method for manufacturing the environmentally friendly shoe material as claimed in claim 1, wherein the foaming material is liquid rubber.
 4. The method for manufacturing the environmentally friendly shoe material as claimed in claim 1, wherein the step of mixing scraps and the foaming material to provide the shoe material mixture includes: mixing the scraps, catalyst, and thermosetting polyurethane elastomer to provide a first mixture; and mixing water with the first mixture to provide the shoe material mixture, wherein the catalyst, the water and the thermosetting polyurethane elastomer are mixed to produce the foaming material.
 5. The method for manufacturing the environmentally friendly shoe material as claimed in claim 4, wherein in the foaming material, a content of the catalyst is 15-20% by weight, a content of the water is 10-20% by weight, and a content of the thermosetting polyurethane elastomer is 60-70% by weight.
 6. The method for manufacturing the environmentally friendly shoe material as claimed in claim 4, wherein in the foaming material, a ratio of the catalyst, the water and the thermosetting polyurethane elastomer is 20:20:60 or 15:10:75.
 7. The method for manufacturing the environmentally friendly shoe material as claimed in claim 1, wherein a content of the scraps in the shoe material mixture is 30-60% by weight.
 8. The method for manufacturing the environmentally friendly shoe material as claimed in claim 1 further comprising: putting a thermoplastic polyurethane film into the mold; and covering the shoe material mixture with the thermoplastic polyurethane film to perform compression molding and produce the environmentally friendly shoe material.
 9. An environmentally friendly shoe material suitable for being made into a component of a shoe, wherein the environmentally friendly shoe material includes scraps and an elastic material, and the scraps include bottle scraps made by crushing plastic bottles.
 10. The environmentally friendly shoe material as claimed in claim 9, wherein the scraps further include paper scraps, wood scraps, plant scraps, coffee grounds, discarded foamed plastic fragments or combinations thereof.
 11. The environmentally friendly shoe material as claimed in claim 9, wherein the elastic material includes rubber or thermosetting polyurethane elastomer.
 12. The environmentally friendly shoe material as claimed in claim 9, wherein a content of the scraps is 30-60% by weight.
 13. The environmentally friendly shoe material as claimed in claim 9, further comprising a thermoplastic polyurethane elastic layer as a surface of the environmentally friendly shoe material. 